Merry Christmas!
by Herrera
Summary: What happened after that little kiss? I wrote about that evening.
1. Chapter 1

Well, I know, we are in April... The topic is not very current now.

(I need to start next Christmas Fic in August)

_**Merry Christmas!**_

The children's smiles were enough reward for all the work preparing the party. It hadn't been so much, actually. And it was a pleasure to share with Mac the time outside the lab, so much talk and laughter. He was happier than ever, and seeing him that way softened Stella's heart. When they went to buy the Christmas tree, he had told her about the Christmas traditions he had followed at home as a child. The tallest trees had to be those of the Taylor family. They had fun carrying it, together.

They had laughed and joked on the sidewalks until they delivered the tree to Julia, who was going to decorate it for the party that the Police Department organized every year for the orphans.

And now they were here, the day before Christmas Eve, looking at Danny, Lindsay, Don and Sheldon dressed as elves, helping to a plump Santa Claus to spread their packages for the happiness of the little ones. All there was joy, even in the usually taciturn Mac Taylor's face. The smile did not abandon him during all the evening. Something was changing in him, and very fast. Stella could not define it well, but this had been a year of many changes. Great joys and great sorrows had happened without respite. Lucy's birth was the most magical thing that had happened to the team in years... And then, the worst... Jessica's death, leaving Don to the brink of an abyss from which, fortunately, he would be able to get away with the help of his teammates.

And there was too the trip to Greece. Sometimes Stella still thought it all was a dream. Her sudden urge to go there was nothing compared to Mac's impulse to follow her. He could not even explain it coherently to himself. It was just that he could not be so far away from her. He could not and did not want. When he left for Greece, he only had one goal: bring her back home. To her place, where she belonged, beside him.

Mac's arms pulling her towards him got Stella away from her thoughts. He hugged her and his lips kissed her temple, in a move that was as natural as it was really unusual. As long as Stella could remember, it was the first time he took the initiative, that he started the embrace and kissed her, and not vice versa. She turned, surprised, her face to the smiling face of him, but before she could say anything, Mac's lips rested again, so softly, on her forehead, then on her nose and, finally, on her lips, where they delayed a little longer.

Danny nudges Lindsay softly, and when she turned to him, he did an indication with his eyes to the other side of the room, next to the Christmas tree, from where Mac and Stella controlled the development of the party. Lindsay gasped, because she looked at them in time to see the kiss on the nose and then on the lips. He realized, too, that they were not the only ones seeing it. Sheldon, who was delivering packages around the room, was closer to Mac and Stella and he had used his camera phone, and Don had seen the flash and saw the whole thing, too. The only people who did not seem to learn that there were more people in the world were Mac and Stella, completely lost after the kisses in staring at each other's eyes, goofy smiles and rosy cheeks in their faces.

"Everyone could see that coming..." Danny said in Lindsay's ear.

"Yes, it was time. It seems that we all knew how it had to end, except themselves..."

When the children began leaving the hall, in the way out to their homes and so happy with the new toys, the elves came to their bosses. Sheldon had put a bunch of mistletoe hanging from a kind of cane. He winked at his teammates, putting the cane with the hanging plant on Stella's head. Danny went to Mac, pointing up.

"Hey, Mac, look what's over your heads, you must fulfill the tradition..."

Mac and Stella looked up, seeing the mistletoe, and then looked at each other, blushing at the same time. But Mac recovered fast, passed his hand over her waist, pulling her towards himself and kissed her cheek. Cameras in phones collected the timely moment. But the protests were soon heard .

"Oh, come on ... we know you can do it better than that... And it will not be the first time today, even without mistletoe..."

Surprise was depicted on Stella's face, and a hint of laughter in Mac's. No way their subordinates had missed something like what had happened moments ago... Stella was attracted to him again and this time the kiss was in the mouth, and not as smooth as it was some minutes ago. The cameras had time to collect the event from different angles, because the main players seemed to be happy where they were... Only when the lack of air became a problem they broke the connection, breathing hard to recover themselves. Everyone applauded, and Stella hid her face on Mac's shoulder, who made signs with his hands meaning. "All of you over here!"

All they parted wishing each other Merry Christmas, Stella already recovered from her attack of shyness. She and Mac were the last ones to leave. Both were on duty the next day, as always were every Christmas time. It was voluntary, being the only ones who had no relatives in the city (or anywhere else in the case of Stella), they did not miss any meeting or family lunch or dinner, and neither deprived of it to their colleagues who enjoyed (or suffered) the company of their families.

"I have something to do tonight, Stella, and I would like you to come with me". She looked at him, waiting for the explanation.

"I would pick up my mother from the airport, her flight arrives at nine. She insisted on coming to spend Christmas with me this year, although I told her we are on duty and that in any moment we may have to leave her if they call us...

"Mac, if she comes to be with you... you don't have to worry about me, you know I'm used to spend Christmas alone, it doesn't matter to me..."

"You are with me, with us, and that is all. I just hope that with my mother here, it could be a quiet time without having to deal with any emergency, and that we had dinner in peace tomorrow and spend Christmas day smoothly. Now tell me, do you want to come to the airport or you prefer I took you home?"

"Mac, your mother will want to see you alone..."

"I don't know what my mother wants, but what I want is to be with you as long as possible. And you, what do you want?"

"Let's go to the airport"

Mac hugged her again, glad to have regained the lead in this strange relationship they had, where Stella was always the one in starting physical contact. Now, with his arm around her waist they walked to the car and disappeared into the traffic, on the road to the airport. It began to snow.

The flight from Chicago was listed as delayed. The estimated delay time was two hours. They ate, walked, laughed, chatted and followed the evolution of weather on a TV monitor in the lobby. The cause of delays on many flights, including the one from Chicago that brought Millie Taylor, was the tremendous storm of snow and cold over most of the East coast. Mac had tried to find out if his mother's plane had at least taken off, but the company offered no details. Some flights began to appear as cancelled, but Mrs Taylor's was still marked as "delayed".

There were in the waiting room more people than chairs. Stella and Mac were tired. His shift had started at six in the morning, and it had been a very hard day, plus the party and the ride to the airport... A chair next to them was free, and Mac was quick to tell Stella that she took the seat. She sat down, but she was not comfortable with Mac standing at his side. She pulled

his hand.

"Mac, you can sit down too, I think there is enough room". They tried it and had to laugh, because there was not room for both of them. Stella stood up and pushed him towards the seat. Then she sat in his lap.

"Good! I like this solution". Mac pulled her body to him and she circled his neck with her arms, finding a comfortable position with her head on his shoulder.

"I weight too much, Mac, you can't be comfortable. I have to lose weight"

"Don't even think about it, you are perfect". Stella broke away to look at him.

"Don't you think I am getting a bit fat?"

"All you have is placed where it should be and it cannot be better located. Stella, you are the most beautiful woman I know ... and I include movie stars, models..."

Stella chuckled

"Mac ... How long has it been since you had your eyes tested?"

"My vision is perfect, in the last practice of shooting I get ten perfect targets from ten..."

Stella sighed and snuggled her face in his neck.

About an hour later, a tired Millie Taylor made her appearance at the exit gates for domestic flights. She expected to see her son, and give him the biggest hug in the world... but it seemed that Mac was not there. So many delays... perhaps he thought that her flight had been cancelled... The lady walked into the waiting room, dragging her small travel bag, freed from its weight thanks to the invention of the rollers. And suddenly there he was, what caused the woman a great joy. Much greater than previously thought even. Because her Mac, her boy, the lonely man after losing his wife in such an unexpected manner, and who after the years still seemed to be as lonely as during the early stages... That man was not alone anymore. Her son was asleep on a chair hugging a woman, she was also asleep, her arms around his neck while she sank her face between Mac's neck and shoulder.

Millie did not need to see her face to recognize her, golden curls speaking eloquently about the identity of its owner. She was Stella; the friend, the companion, the colleague... and now, in view of both attitude, the women in his life. Millie Taylor sighed deeply, feeling very happy. It was going to be, finally, a merry, merry Christmas.

"See there? It's an 'S'. That's 'Stella', the woman in your life, who sometimes you adore... ad sometimes she makes you crazy..." Mac was dreaming of that afternoon when she read the coffee grounds. The woman in my life. The one and only to always love, even when she made me crazy...

No, they were not so misguided, those Greek coffee grounds.


	2. Note

This is a note to apologize.

I just realized my fault now when I came to look something up... and I saw I didn't mention MARNIC, the kind person who helped me and corrected the English version of my fic... I only posted the text.

Bad, very bad.

I couldn't have done it without her help!

I'm so sorry, Marnic... Thank you very much.

Paz Herrera


End file.
